Handle for electric appliances



Jan. 4, 1944. c TAYLOR I 2,338,554

HANDLE FOR ELECTRIC APPLIANCES Filed June 20, 1941 I; INVENTCR v CHARLES H. YLO/Q ATI'ORN y Fig. 1;

Patented Jan. 4, 1944 HANDBE FOR ELECTRIC APPLIANCES Charles H. Taylor, Springfield, Masa, assignor to Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa.,- a corporation of Pennsylvania Application June 20, 1941, SerialNo. 398,900

'g'oiaims. (.01. 173-322) invention relates to a. handle-construction.

for an. electric appliance, such as, a suction cleaner oi the hand type intended for'cleaning upholstery, the interior of.,.automobiles, stairs, draperies, and the like.

An object of the inventionisto. provide an improved, easily manufactured andeasily assembled handle for a suction cleanerv and other handoperated electric appliances.

p A still further objectis to provide an improved handle embodyinga simplev and eflective strain relief..

.These andother objects are effected by the.v

invention as will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in. connection with.

thie -accompanying. drawing, forming. a part of this application, in which:-

Fig.- 1 is a side elevation, with parts broken' awayfor-the sake of illustration, ofv a suction cleaner provided with ahandle constructed ac-' cording to this invention:

brush" 24 located in" the. lower portionrof'. the p nozzle i2. Rotary motion is transmitted from the shaft 22 to the brush roll by a rubber belt 23.

The handle it is positioned above the motor l4 and is fastened to the fan chamber member I l by screws 21, and it extends rearwardly therefrom substantially parallel to the-motor. Thishandle comprises a channel-portion-ZB- and an insert portion 29. The channel portion is made Fig. 2 is' a side elevation of the .cleaner handle.

with the insert partially swung out of the channel member for the sake ofillustration;

Fig. Sis a section taken along line III-III of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a'section taken along line IV-IV of Fig. 5 is a detail showing how the dust bag is attached to the fan chamber member; and,

Fig. 6 is a section taken along line VIVI of Fig. l.

Referring specifically to the drawing for a detailed description of the invention, numeral l8 designates a hand+type suction cleaner embodyin gthe same. The cleaner i0 comprises generally a body or fan chamber member I i having a suction nozzle i2 extending from the front thereof, a fan l3 located in the fan chamber, an electric motor H for operating the fan i3, a cloth dust bag i5 for catching the dust picked up by the cleaner, and a handle it for manipulating the cleaner over the surface being cleaned.

The fan chamber member H has a shoulder l8 on its rear side. The motor I4 is enclosed in an airtight casing l9 having a flange 29 by means of which the motor is attached to the shoulder ID by screws 2|. When innormal operating position, the motor l4 extends substantially horizontally from the fan chamber member II. A shaft 22 projects from the motor casing l9 and extends into the fan chamber ii. The fan i3 is mounted on and rotated by this shaft. This shaft also drives a rotatable floor engaging 02 metal and the insert portion may be made of wood or-a suitable plastic. The insert-portion is pivutedtothe-channel' portion 28by a pin3il,.v and it may be swung out of the channel portion 28 to permit installation of parts in the channel portion. The channel portion 28 has a groove 33 in its rear end in wliich'insulatedconductors- 34 for connecting. the motor i4 to--a suitable 3 sourceoipuwer arerece'n'zed;v These conductors extend from the rear of the handle it; this arrangement facilitates handling of the cleaner.

The conductors 34 are provided with an 816917131".

cal insulating sleeve 31,-the-function of which will be explained hereinafter. These conductors extend within the channel portion 28 to the front thereof where they are connected to a switch 38 for controlling the motor H. The switch 38 is positioned inside the channel portion 28, and a button 39 for turning the switch on and oil pro- Jects through the top of the same within easy reach of the operator's thumb. The channel portion 28 has projections 4| at the rear thereof from which the'dust bag I5 is partially supported in a manner which will be explained hereinafter.

The insert portion 29 is swung out of the channel portion 28, as shown in Fig. 2, to permit the conductors 34 and the switch 38 to be easily positioned in the channel portion 28. After the conductors and the switch are installed, the insert portion 29 is swung into the channel portion 28. When the handle is installed on the cleaner, the end 3i of the insert portion 29 abuts against the top of the fan chamber member II and retains the insert portion 29 in position in the channel portion 28. A pin 42 extends across the channel portion 28 and prevents the insert portion 29 .from being swung too far therein. As the insert portion 29 is swung into the position shown in Fig. 1, the teeth 36 on the insert portion contact the insulating sleeve 31 and force it against the top ofthe channel portion 28. The projections 35-on the channel portion 28 and the teeth 36 on the insert portion firmly grip the insulating sleeve 31 with force enough to firmly hold the conductors 34 against movement.

with this arrangement, strain due to a pull on the conductors 34 is absorbed by the rear of the handle l8 instead of being transmitted to the switch connections.

The dust bag I5 is substantially circular in a.

cross-section and it completely encloses the motor I4 and extends substantially parallel to the same. It has a metal ring 43 connectedto its mouth, and it is connected to the fan chamber member I I by means of bayonet slots 44 in this ring which engage pins 45 on the fan chamber member ll. An auxiliary piece of cloth 46 is attached to the dust bag l6 rearwardly thereof ,to provide .a pocket or loop into yvhich the projections 4| on the handle l6 are received for partially supporting the rear of the dust bag.

The parallel arrangement or the motor M, the handle l6 and the dust bag I5 permits a very compact design which is appealing to the eye because of the symmetrical appearance of the cleaner.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the drawing, it is seen that this iiivention provides an improvedrhandle construction for a suction cleaner or other hand-operated electric appliance which is lightweight, compact, appealing to the eye and economical to manufacture. It is also seen that this invention provides a suction cleaner handle having improved and effective strain relief.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of 'various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is: 40

1. A handle for an electric appliance such as a suction cleaner or the like comprising an inductors disposed in said channel for energizing said appliance, said conductors being insertable and movable in said channel only when said insert is swung out of said channel, the portions of said channel and said insert near the pivoted connection oi! said insert with said channel being so formed and spaced as to clamp said conductors therebetween when said handle is assembled to,

said appliance and said insert is in said channel to provide strain relief for said conductors.

2. A handle for an electric appliance such as a suction cleaner or the like comprising an inverted channel connected at one end to a portion of said appliance, an insert in said channel, means for pivotally connecting one end other end of said channel, the other end of said insert abutting against said portion of said appliance when said handle is connected to said appliance, said insert being adapted to swing out of said channel when said handle is detached from said appliance, electric conductors disposed in said channel for energizing said appliance,

said conductors being insertable and movable in said channel only when said insert is swung out or said channel, and engaging elements projecting from an edgev oi said insert, near the pivoted connection of said insert with said chanml, for clamping said conductors against a wall of said chanel when said handle is assembled to said appliance and said insert is in said channel, to provide strain relief for said conductors.

CHARLES H. TAYLOR.

of said insert to the l 

